Blanar in Switzerland Highlights Contribution of Slovak Experts Working at CERN

Bern, February 25 (TASR) - At the beginning of a working trip to Switzerland on Tuesday, Foreign Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) highlighted the unique contribution of Slovak experts at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), the Foreign Affairs Ministry's press department has informed TASR. The minister visited CERN headquarters in Geneva and met its director general Fabiola Gianotti, who expressed appreciation for Slovakia's active involvement and contribution. Blanar primarily pointed to the key ALICE and ATLAS experiments in the Large Hadron Collider, in which scientists from Slovakia participate. According to the ministry, the organisation has 164 registered users with Slovak passports, of which 19 have long-term work contracts. In addition to the two aforementioned projects, Slovak teams are also involved in the ISOLDE and NA62 experiments. "We often hear that our education system is not good, but this is proof that this is not the case. Successful Slovak experts who graduated from Slovak universities not only work directly on CERN research, but they also participate in the production of unique equipment developed for installing and operating the accelerator," said Blanar, calling their work as a huge thing for mankind. The head of Slovak diplomacy also went on a tour of the ALICE experiment's underground workplace at a depth of more than 50 metres underground. According to him, it is a top European workplace with global reach, which has led to discoveries in medicine; for example in oncology, and in technologies used in everyday life, such as the internet and touch screens. The main goal of the minister's two-day working visit to Geneva is to deliver speeches at the 58th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council and at the Conference on Disarmament, said the ministry's communications department. Blanar will also hold several bilateral meetings with his counterparts, representatives of the UN and the International Red Cross Committee. ko/df